


Father's Shadow

by Red_Tigress



Series: All the Feels One Shots [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Angst, Daddy Issues, Gen, kiddy demonstrations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-05
Updated: 2012-05-05
Packaged: 2017-11-04 20:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/397915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Tigress/pseuds/Red_Tigress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Response to Meskeet's prompt, "He waited for Tony to smile back, and then he realized why the man looked like he'd been stabbed in the back. He'd called him Howard again." No spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Father's Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from Meskeet. Also, wrote this before I saw the movie, so sorry about discrepancies.

Tony was looking very pleased with himself, as was Thor who was standing next to him. Tony held up the small electronic box for Steve to see.

“What…is it?” he asked tentatively. 

“This,” Tony said proudly, “is an Asgardian force field. I developed it with the help of Thorceps here,” he lightly hit Thor on the bicep, who grimaced. “It can project a small sphere that cancels out any magic inside of it. Observe.”

He gave the box to Thor who turned it on. Thor then stuck out his hand trying to call his hammer which was on the other side of the room. Steve looked from it back to Thor. “No Mjolnir.”

“No mind-control,” Tony corrected pointedly. He moved into the sphere which looked to Steve like some sort of barely perceptible bubble, taking the box out of Thor’s hand and switching it off. The shimmer in the air disappeared. “Unfortunately, I’ve only perfected it on a small scale. Anything bigger than this and it’s basically useless.”

Steve grinned, impressed. “Still. This will help. A lot. Nicely done, Howard.”

He waited for Tony to smile back, and then he realized why the man looked like he'd been stabbed in the back. He'd called him Howard again.

Steve’s face fell, as Thor looked between the two of them confused. Steve cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Sorry, Tony, I didn’t mean-”

“I know what you meant,” Tony mumbled. The atmosphere in the room had gone from light and joking to smothering in an instant. Thor still looked confused, but knew enough not to comment on the situation. “It’s fine, I understand.” Tony gave him a weak smile, not meeting his eyes.

Before Steve could even formulate a reply, Tony had turned on his heel and walked briskly out. Not in the mock-offended way Steve had grown accustomed to, but in the actual, hurt way that said he didn’t want anyone to see him vulnerable. 

“Wait, Tony!” But the other man was gone.

“Who is Howard?” Thor asked. 

“His father. I knew him. Back…” Steve couldn’t finish. It still hurt when he thought about all the people he’d lost.

Thor looked back towards the doorway. “A man living in his father’s shadow can be a trying thing.”

Steve glanced at the Asgardian. Thor sounded…resigned, hardened. But on his face was a look Steve had almost never seen from the other man, except when his brother was involved. One of sorrow, regret, maybe.

“It’s just so hard with him…they’re so alike, but so…different.” 

It was true. They were both eager to please when it came to their inventions, both geniuses in their own right. But where Howard had been relatively open and honest about his intentions and emotions, Tony walled his feelings off behind sarcasm and isolation. He supposed that during the War, Howard didn’t have the time or energy to act like Tony did. Or maybe it was just from Tony’s own personal experiences. 

Honestly, he hadn’t even known Howard that well. It made him wonder what he was like after the war. If perhaps Howard had felt lost like Steve had, until Nick Fury wrangled him back into the fold. If maybe Tony had had a bleak childhood because Howard couldn’t pull himself fully out of the war.

He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Thor. “When he is ready, he will talk. In the meantime, I would not mistake the fault for your own.”

Thor gave him another pat on the back, before he left Steve there alone. He wished it were that easy. 

This was one thing he thought Tony might never talk about.


End file.
